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In association with our international conference, Utopia for 500 years, we are hosting a panel discussion on the continuing resonance of this seminal work and its relevance to our own social and political realities. CBC Ideas Executive producer, Greg Kelly, will moderate a discussion of this work by Erica Lee (Idle No More), Hayden King (Carleton University), Terry Downy (St. Thomas More College), and Ann Prescott (Barnard College).
Free Admission.
Please arrive promptly as this is a recorded program.

September 24 at 3:00 pm at the St. Thomas More Auditorium
1437 College Dr, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
All are welcome!

Registration for the academic portion of the program is now open. See the conference webpage for details.

What happens when you put a group of chemistry students and humanities students together and set them loose on some ancient cultural artifacts armed with a synchrotron? We are going to find out!

Okay, we aren’t exactly going to set these students loose. Tracene Harvey of CMRS and the Museum of Antiquities, Tom Ellis of the Department of Chemistry, and Tracy Walker, Education Programs Lead at the Canadian Light Source will be instructing and guiding, but this really is imagined as a joint-exploration project, certainly the first of its kind in Canada, and perhaps even unique in North America. (If anyone else has attempted such a course, we would love to hear about it!)

CMRS/CHEM 398 Using Big Science for the Study of Material Culture examines the possibilities of applying one tool of “Big Science”–the synchrotron at the Canadian Light Source (CLS)–to the study of cultural heritage objects of the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods. In this seminar course, students will learn about the technology and methods of spectroscopy for the study of the chemical and material composition and properties of such objects as medieval manuscripts and ancient glass, pottery, and coins. They will also consider the implications for the results of such research for the study, preservation, and assessment of these objects and also for our understanding of the cultures that produced them. Students will explore the scientific and scholarly literature and then select a material object or objects from one of our university collections (The Museum of Antiquities or the Murray Library Special Collections) and a research problem as the class project. The class will then develop a research plan, use one of the CLS’s synchrotron beamlines to for spectroscopic analysis of the object, and then interpret and write-up the results.

And what to we hope to accomplish? The overall objective of this course is to connect students with scientific technology and methods that can be applied to humanities-based research in the area of material culture. To this end, students will gain knowledge and experience in scientific research applications in material culture through the use of the Canadian Light Source. Throughout their course work, students will have the opportunity to learn from and consult with science and humanities experts who have used scientific applications in material culture based research. By exploring the current state of synchrotron-based scientific research methods on material culture objects, students will learn how to formulate scientific questions surrounding material culture objects, perform experiments at the Canadian Light Source on selected cultural heritage objects from our university collections in order to find answers to those questions, and then interpret these findings within the larger archaeological and historical contexts to which these objects belong. Once the experiments have been performed, students will then have the opportunity interpret and present their research in the form of oral presentations, conference posters and research papers. Upon completion of the course, the students will have a significant understanding of the use of scientific technology and research in the humanities and will have the ability and confidence to work in a team environment to apply this knowledge and research in their future academic endeavors as desired. A particularly innovative outcome of this course is to have students gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences of research methods, cultures and epistemologies across disciplines.

If you would like to know more about this course, contact the director of CMRS, Brent Nelson, for advising.

Over the last year, keen observers of the medieval and renaissance scene at this University (members of Comitatus! Students, faculty, and fellows in CMRS! Helpers at the Museum! Lots of others) will have seen advertisements for some unexpected events. First, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Stafford, Richard II and his bride, Anne of Bohemia, gave what was billed as the world premiere of the first part of Geoffrey Chaucer’s new work, “The book of the Tales of Canterbury”. Although Geoffrey lived around 1340 to 1400 and wrote his Canterbury Tales in England between 1386 and 1400, it appears we have had to wait until April 2015 for the first ever presentation of his work (which indeed debuted at the Greystone theatre on 9 April, in front of an audience of around 100 people, themselves acting as commoners and aristocrats of England). Geoffrey returned to Saskatchewan, this time to the Woods Tavern in December, with his good friend John Gower (named in a recent poll as the most uninteresting man in England), for another performance, this time of the Miller’s Tale before a lively audience of pub-goers.

Nor was this the end of these strange episodes of resurrection of supposedly long-dead authors and their works. In February, St John’s cathedral in Saskatoon became St Paul’s Cathedral, London on 29 January 1625, and the Dean of St Paul’s, John Donne, gave us his “Second Prebend Sermon”. In March, Thomas Malory will presented part of his remarkable cycle of Arthurian stories, and in April (it is rumoured) Geoffrey will return for another of his new Tales of Canterbury.

The common thread behind these performances is Colin Gibbings, formerly an undergraduate and then an MA student here in the Department of English. In the course of his undergraduate career, he showed a remarkable gift for performance of Middle English literary texts. This led his MA supervisor, me, to propose that his MA project should be based around a performance of the General Prologue of the Tales. I had my own agenda. Too many years of research into the manuscripts of the Tales has led me to speculate that one of the manuscripts very close to Chaucer himself (now thought to have been written by his own scribe, “Adam”, who may have worked for Chaucer for two decades) has a spelling which reflects how the poetry should be spoken. Recently too Paul Strohm (in his wonderful book Chaucer’s Tale: 1386 and the road to Canterbury) has argued that Chaucer first performed parts of the Tales for select groups of his friends. Further, the dramatic events in the English court around 1386 to 1389, when Richard first lost power to the vicious “Lords Appellant” and then gained it back in May 1389, suggested a historical context: that in June 1389 Richard might have celebrated regaining power by inviting his favourite poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, to come and present part of the new work on which Geoffrey had been working while in self-imposed exile away from London between 1386 and 1389. Hence Colin and I hatched a plan: a performance of Chaucer himself presenting his new work to Richard II in Sheen Palace, London, in June 1389.

This performance was well received, with Colin’s performance (viewable at on YouTube) much admired. Professors Brent Nelson, Mike Cichon, Frank Klaassen and Sharon Wright joined with me in a proposal to the Curriculum Innovation Fund for support for Colin to make five more videos: four of these the Donne, Malory and two more Chaucer outlined above, the fifth being based on the Old English/Cree Wanderer project developed in the University several years ago. I argue that the best way to appreciate medieval Literature (perhaps, any literature) is through performances such as these. I am using the videos in my English honours class on medieval literature this term, towards exactly that end; we hope many more will follow!

The organizers of Utopia for 500 Years, a Conference on Thomas More’s Utopia to be held at St. Thomas More College, University Of Saskatchewan 22-24 September 2016, have extended the deadline for submissions to 15 February 2016. Please see the original call for papers here.

My name is Courtney Tuck, and I graduated from the University of Saskatchewan last spring with a double-honours in History & CMRS. I am currently a graduate student at in the History Department here at the University of Saskatchewan, working with Dr. Angela Kalinowski on my Master’s thesis. My thesis will be looking at the practice of female gladiators in ancient Rome and how they would have been perceived by the spectators and contemporary society as a whole. While working on my undergraduate degree, I gained many research skills that have been a great benefit to me in my current studies. Here are some of the amazing research opportunities I was able to take advantage of during my undergraduate degree.

CMRS 401 – “Medieval Genres: Representing the Past in the Digital Age”
This CMRS capstone course was my introduction to the exciting and burgeoning world of the digital humanities. I learned about new ways to present research in a digital format to reach more people and hopefully create a broader impact. I learned how to use new tools like Omeka, which allows one to create on-line collections and exhibits. I also learned how to create a digital, interactive timeline using Timeline JS. For my CMRS 401 project, I taught myself how to use these tools and chose the theme of Renaissance artworks depicting the Biblical story of Judith and Holofernes. I used Omeka and Timeline JS to find interesting and interactive ways to present these artworks and find new ways to group, organize, and visualise these pieces. As a historian who uses material culture in her research, I knew I would use these tools in the future. It turned out I was right! I am currently using the Omeka platform to create an online catalogue for the Museum of Antiquities at the University of Saskatchewan. The project will soon branch out to include other plaster cast collections from around the world in the hope of being able to foster more communication and collaboration for these types of collections on an international scale. You can access the website I created for CMRS 401 here.

CMRS 402 – “Directed Research” – My Honours Thesis Titled: “The Imago in Public & Private Life: Ancient Roman Ancestor Masks & Their Function During the Republican Period”
This project allowed me the opportunity to explore what writing a thesis in graduate school would be like. It also afforded me the opportunity to explore ancient Roman social history, which I discovered to be my preferred area of concentration. I also honed my skills in working with ancient primary sources, both literary and artefactual. I practiced not only my research, but also my writing skills and had the opportunity to defend my work in front of a committee of faculty members. This was great preparation for my current work as a graduate student. I also ended up working under the supervision of Dr. Kalinowski, and it made me confident that she would be the best choice as an academic supervisor for the next step in my academic journey.

CMRS 403 – “Analysis and Public Exhibition of Cultural Artefacts”
This independent study course allows students to study the process of researching, designing and mounting an exhibit. As someone who hopes to have a future in museum work, I knew this course would be invaluable to me. The title of my exhibit and accompanying research paper was “Poison on the Palatine Hill: Poison during the Julio-Claudian Dynasty of Ancient Rome”. I looked at aspects of both gender and nationality in relation to those who were accused of plotting to poison members of the Imperial family. Murder by poison was particularly rampant during the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, which is why I chose that time period. This project was a massive undertaking, as I chose to include more than six stations within my exhibit. I borrowed coins from a numismatic enthusiast in Alberta with whom the Museum has a relationship; I commissioned a replica bust from my sister who just happens to be an amazing sculptor; I utilized pieces already in the Museum’s collection; and I fabricated both display and interactive pieces to be included as well. The accompanying research paper that went with this exhibit was, again supervised by my current academic supervisor, Dr. Kalinowski.

Medieval Codes
During the senior year of my undergraduate program, I was fortunate enough to be hired by Dr. Yin Liu to be a part of the SSHRC-funded Medieval Codes Project. Knowledge of the Classical world is always a benefit to any Medievalist, but I did feel as if I was a Classicist moonlighting as a Medievalist. I discovered branching out into a new realm of history was a great challenge for me. I was able to gain experience in accessing textual sources and approaching them in a new way. I was also able to gain more experience in the digital humanities. I learned how important research dissemination can be to a project and how to create and use a blog as a way to publish research findings to engage new types of readers. I also worked as part of a team, which was a great experience.

The Museum of Antiquities
The most impacting experience I gained during my time as an undergraduate was the four years I volunteered and worked at the Museum of Antiquities here at the University of Saskatchewan. During that time I held the positions of Education Coordinator, Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator, and Assistant Curator. In being allowed to try on many different hats, I was able to find where my passion and talents lay. I was able to feel as though I made a great impact there with my work, and I was able to gain meaningful research, inter-personal, leadership, design and public speaking skills. I also found a supportive mentor in the Museum’s director, Dr. Tracene Harvey. I am currently able to continue my work with the Museum of Antiquities as a graduate student this semester under a graduate research fellowship. The work of this research fellowship is the aforementioned Omeka-based project. During the last four and a half years, the Museum of Antiquities has been my on-campus home away from home and has been the cornerstone of my educational experience at the University of Saskatchewan.

A Conference on Thomas More’s Utopia to be held at St. Thomas More College, University Of Saskatchewan, 22-24 September 2016, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the work’s publication.

In the five hundred years since Thomas More published his Utopia, the work has had a profound influence on political and philosophical thought. But it has likewise held an important place in modern aesthetic and cultural developments—in literature, in art, in architecture and design—and has inspired political change, social experiments, and radical countercultural movements.

This conference seeks to address the varieties of utopia and utopianism that More’s work and those influenced by it have dared imagine. Does the utopian impulse mark a practical response to political, ecological or social crisis? Does utopia reflect a nostalgia for some lost golden age or optimism for a better—if perhaps impossible—future? Do utopian fictions allow us to explore previously unseen possibilities or confine us to the realm of mere imagination? What about dystopias? How are imagined dystopias informed by the tradition begun by More? Are they a straightforward antithesis of the utopian impulse, or could it be that dystopia is somehow a product of utopianism? Finally, what is the place of Utopia and utopias in historical change? Can we identify historical or modern social, economic or ecological experiments that display some utopian vision? In short, how has utopia been used as a tool to think with and how have people translated that thought into action.

We invite proposals on a range of topics that address More’s Utopia, its context, reception and influence, but also those that more broadly address the idea of utopias and utopianism in other political, philosophical, literary, social and historical contexts. We hope this conference will bring together a range of scholars working on Utopia and utopias from diverse disciplinary perspectives.

St. Thomas More College is a Catholic liberal arts college that is federated with the University of Saskatchewan. The College’s Shannon Library holds one of six extant copies of the 1518 second edition of More’s Utopia. Together with the Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Program and the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan, St. Thomas More College invites proposals for individual papers or complete panels that address the conference theme. Applications for funding to cover travel costs will be made available to those whose papers are accepted. Please send proposed titles and abstracts (no longer than 300 words) by email to utopia2016@stmcollege.ca by 15 February 2016.